Spring planting time

[Baker]

We will start spring planting next week weather considered though it looks good. Seed is in the barn: soy beans, cow peas, sunn hemp, joint vetch, sunflowers, grain sorghum, and Egyptian wheat. I'll post pics during the pr ocess.

While I get a big kick out of summer plantings I believe the fall plantings have more value overall. With small grains, clovers, chicory, and brassicas, most of the year , if not all, can be covered. Easier to grow and maintain with great value at important times of the year.

Nonetheless it makes me happy to see a summer plot in full growth especially if there is a beautiful bachelor group filing in at sunset.

 

[dogghr]

Good stuff Baker. Keep us posted. Always enjoy your knowledge you share. Good luck.

 

[lakngolf]

Good luck with the planting. Hope weather does you well. You are putting a few coins in the ground. Oh and nice barn

 

[Baker]

Good luck with the planting. Hope weather does you well. You are putting a few coins in the ground. Oh and nice barn

Appreciate the comment on the barn. One of my favorite places. We have a small office full of deer stuff, planting and harvest records etc along with a complete shop. There is an industrial quality meat processing area for deer , ducks, critters, fish, turkeys etc and chickens[ we raise our own pasture raised broilers ] Back side has a chicken coop with about 35 egg layers. A smoker is attached to the meat processing area. Set up an area for making bio char. Then we have all the toys and implements in there a country red neck could ever hope for.

 

[lakngolf]

Appreciate the comment on the barn. One of my favorite places. We have a small office full of deer stuff, planting and harvest records etc along with a complete shop. There is an industrial quality meat processing area for deer , ducks, critters, fish, turkeys etc and chickens[ we raise our own pasture raised broilers ] Back side has a chicken coop with about 35 egg layers. A smoker is attached to the meat processing area. Set up an area for making bio char. Then we have all the toys and implements in there a country red neck could ever hope for.

You may have to start a thread and give us a full tour. Looks yuge!!

 

[dogdoc]

Probably do get more bang for your buck with with your cool season plantings but all those legumes you are planting now will provide some high protein for those lactating does and antler growing bucks.

 

[Baker]

Spraying down a vetch [ aeschenomene ] field today . I planted these fields several years ago and have kept them regenerating by lightly discing in the spring then at the last possible moment before germination burning the field down with gly. This helps control the inevitable weeds that grow in the vetch.

I really like joint vetch as a feed. As mentioned it can be managed as a reseeding perennial . It is a high quality feed that lasts till frost. Frequently it is the best thing going late summer till frost. Doesn't hurt that the best buck I ever personally took from the farm was seen grazing in a vetch field all summer.

 

[Baker]

Drilling a combo of soybeans, cow peas, sorghum, sunflowers and Egyptian wheat into the fall crop. It's not laying down as I like so I may go back next week and mow. It laid better last yr from the drill I think because I planted several weeks later. The rye, wheat, clover, and radishes were sprayed yesterday. With all the wheat seed I would expect every bird in La. to show up.

I'll be planting a total of 26 acres in this particular combo.

 

[cutman]

What seed rate per acre do you use with that mix? I will be doing something similar in a couple of weeks once my milorganite arrives. I'll be planting cowpeas, sunn hemp, sunflowers into naturally dead rye with the 706NT.

Also, when drilling sunflowers do you put the seed cup in position 2 or 3?

 

[dogghr]

View attachment 6899 Drilling a combo of soybeans, cow peas, sorghum, sunflowers and Egyptian wheat into the fall crop. It's not laying down as I like so I may go back next week and mow. It laid better last yr from the drill I think because I planted several weeks later. The rye, wheat, clover, and radishes were sprayed yesterday. With all the wheat seed I would expect every bird in La. to show up.

I'll be planting a total of 26 acres in this particular combo.

Why do you include the EW in the mix?

 

[Mennoniteman]

View attachment 6899 Drilling a combo of soybeans, cow peas, sorghum, sunflowers and Egyptian wheat into the fall crop. It's not laying down as I like so I may go back next week and mow. It laid better last yr from the drill I think because I planted several weeks later. The rye, wheat, clover, and radishes were sprayed yesterday. With all the wheat seed I would expect every bird in La. to show up.

I'll be planting a total of 26 acres in this particular combo.

Do you put all of that seed together in the large box? And what are your drill gearbox, seeding rate and seedcup settings?

 

[Baker]

What seed rate per acre do you use with that mix? I will be doing something similar in a couple of weeks once my milorganite arrives. I'll be planting cowpeas, sunn hemp, sunflowers into naturally dead rye with the 706NT.

Also, when drilling sunflowers do you put the seed cup in position 2 or 3?

Just back from a turkey hunt to close the season out.

I planted a mix similar to yours last yr. using 50 lbs/acre soybeans, 25lbs/acre cow peas, 10 lbs/acre sunn hemp,and 5 lbs/acre sunflowers. I tried posting a pic but comes back as error. I may retry in separate post. I'll get cup settings later today.

 

[Baker]

Why do you include the EW in the mix?

I've never planted Egyptian wheat before and I thought it interesting to give it a try. Figured it would give a trellis for the cowpeas. I don't have any use for the traditional values of Egyptian wheat like visible blocks etc so thought I'd just throw it into mix as experiment.

 

[Baker]

Do you put all of that seed together in the large box? And what are your drill gearbox, seeding rate and seedcup settings?

I do put it all together in large seed box. I'll get settings this afternoon.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Just back from a turkey hunt to close the season out.

I planted a mix similar to yours last yr. using 50 lbs/acre soybeans, 25lbs/acre cow peas, 10 lbs/acre sunn hemp,and 5 lbs/acre sunflowers. I tried posting a pic but comes back as error. I may retry in separate post. I'll get cup settings later today.

Your picture is probably too big, try cropping the size down to just over half then it should attach.

 

[Baker]

Your picture is probably too big, try cropping the size down to just over half then it should attach.

For some reason I have always had trouble posting pics on this site. I get an error message but can come back later and post the same pic no problem. Certainly my lack of tech savvy could be part of the problem but curious why the problem is intermittent.

 

[lakngolf]

ITS. Intermittent tech savvy. We all have that

 

[OkieKubota]

tap a talk works well for posting pictures directly from your phone...

 

[Baker]

Do you put all of that seed together in the large box? And what are your drill gearbox, seeding rate and seedcup settings?

Seeding rate:
25 lbs/acre cowpeas
25 lbs/acre soybeans
4 lbs/acre Egyptian wheat
5 lbs/acre sunflower
1 1/2 lb /acre sorghum

Drive type 2
cup 2
seed rate handle 40
Everything in big box.
Worked out very close

Will be planting straight sunflowers tomorrow and post settings then

 

[Mennoniteman]

Eqyptian wheat in the mix is interesting. Why or what is the reasoning with that? EW is usually used as a screen.